Reading Between The Lines
by notbang
Summary: He didn’t care who knew. That would be a matter to consider if failure was a possibility, but James Potter never failed to get a girl. Until Lily Evans. OotP spoilers.
1. Introducing the Minds

Reading Between The Lines  
  
~*~*~FLASHBACK~*~*~  
  
James looked up at the girl standing near his left shoulder. This girl had shoulder length, dark red hair, and almond shaped eyes that sparkled like emeralds. He immediately ran a hand through his hair, making it, if possible, stand on end worse than it had before.  
  
'Hey, Evans,' he said smoothly, his tone becoming more deeper and mature than it had been before her arrival.  
  
'Don't you hey Evans me, Potter,' she scowled. 'Leave him alone. What has he done to you?'  
  
'Well,' said James, slightly at a loss for words, 'it's more a matter of him existing...'  
  
This didn't seem to go well with her at all. Her eyes narrowed dangerously. 'You know, you're nothing more than a bully, James Potter. Thinking that just because you're on the Quidditch team and the top of your class that you own the place - going around hexing people just because you can,' she said coldly. 'It's a surprise you can even get that broom of yours off the ground, your head is so big.' With that, she stormed off. In shock, James's concentration faltered and the boy he had been suspending in the air crumpled to the ground painfully.  
  
'What is with her?' he asked his best friend, Sirius Black, with puzzlement. Sirius grinned. 'Reading between the lines, Prongs, I think,' he said with amusement, 'that she means you're a little conceited, mate.'  
  
James frowned and ran a hand through his hair yet again, noticing with disinterest that his latest victim was scrambling away. He was so caught up in the enigma that was Lily Evans, that he didn't think, not even for a moment, about following him.  
  
~*~*~END OF FLASHBACK~*~*~  
  
James Potter was many things, but tactful would never be one of them. He was popular, yes - quidditch captain, Gryffindor hero, resident prankster and class room genius - but this image, if anything, only made his already over-weight ego larger. While many over looked his bad qualities and skipped straight to the good ones - his good looks, great sense of humour and intimidating intelligence - there would always be a select group of people that saw what was actually the blunt truth - a cocky and conceited fifteen year old boy that indeed thought himself more important than most.  
  
Lily Evans was one of these select few.  
  
As a prefect, she of course saw it her duty to make Potter see the error of his ways. This plan had however taken a rather inconvenient twist when James had, in turn, made it his duty to make her 'his'. Had she not been a prefect, and had she not been a muggle-born, and had she not have had to put up with him for four years and a half, maybe, just maybe, this would have been a little uplifting to her. But his blatant arrogance had annoyed her from the start, and his new notion that, upon becoming his girlfriend, she would become 'his', only made this detestable trait of his more distasteful for her. This mostly owed to the fact that she was a muggle born, and, although James was never cruel to people because of their parentage selectively, she did know what it was like to be humiliated, and her heart went out to each person that James took upon himself to torment. It frustrated her so much that no matter what she said or did, she could just not break through the stupid idea that he had in his head that he had some image to live up to. Lily, being someone who disliked judging people, knew that James was capable of being a likable person. He did, after all, have a rather close knit group of friends, amongst a vast network of people that worshipped the very ground he walked on. He kept promises, he was deadly loyal to those he trusted, and had a great charisma and talent that made people simply lighten up just by looking at them with his mischievous hazel eyes - along with the quidditch team and his other claims to fame.  
  
Lily was definitely out of his league, which was what made her so irritated about his whole new attempt to win her over - what did he want with her when there were heaps of gorgeous girls at Hogwarts that would simply jump at the chance to be wooed by James Potter? She wasn't in what would be deemed as the 'loser' crowd of the school - that was a group that consisted mainly of the people that James had taken a severe disliking to - namely Severus Snape - and had proceeded to humiliate, but she wasn't popular, either. Mainly because of her resistance towards James Potter. In fact, James may have very well welcomed her with open arms into his crowd of 'beautiful people', had she accepted him from the start. But she hadn't, and was therefore usually overlooked by James and his crowd. This, of course, was accepted by the rest - because what James said, goes, right?  
  
Wrong. Or so Lily thought. She knew James had good reasons for giving a few certain people a hard time. But it was really one boy in particular. This was Severus Snape. Or, as James and his cronies called him, Snivelus. Severus was a quiet, studious boy that in many ways, was rather like Lily. But there was one little habit of his that made him, in her eyes, as bad as James Potter himself. And that was his tendency to discriminate others, namely herself, because of their parentage. She had been most surprised on one occasion that, shortly after she had rescued him from James's taunts, he had repaid her by calling her a mudblood. This had disgusted her to the roots of her red hair, but, out of both wounded pride and dislike for Potter, she had snapped an abolishment to James's commanding of Snape to apologise.  
  
Snape wasn't popular, and he had of course called her one of the foulest things he could have said to someone like her, but still, in Lily's opinion, this was no reason for James to treat him the way he did. Especially since James didn't merely terrorize people that were in the wrong - he terrorized people for the smallest things, because he could. That was the one, simple reason. Because he could. And that is what angered Lily Evans.  
  
***********  
  
James Potter did not dislike Lily Evans. She was pretty - he'd even go as far as to say she was beautiful. And something about the way she fought for what she believed in always made him think. Of course it was always annoying to have her watching his every move, and glaring at him disapprovingly, but despite what she thought, he did actually listen to what she had to say. And yes, she - of all people - was capable of making him sink into deep thought, something that did not occur often.  
  
She was clever, too. Not so much in her schoolwork - though she was exceptional at Charms - but she had a good head on her shoulders, and always knew what was going on. Perceptive, was the word James liked to use. But there was something about her, something that he could never put his finger on, that made her different from any other girl. And that, along with her hardly unnoticeable good looks, was what caught his attention. He felt a strange exhilaration when her argued with her that sometimes shocked him, leaving Lily Evans the only person to record with the ability to leave James Potter speechless. Quite the contrary from disliking her, James even, though he loathed to admit it, had a more than slight affection for Lily. In simpler terms, he liked her.  
  
Now, James was quite accustomed to being able to have any girl he pleased, this being mainly due to the fact that the girls that interested him - a.k.a the girls with good looks - were just as interested in him. Lily was an exception, and this aggravated James to know end. When he had, to his best friends's greatest amusement, admitted that he indeed had a 'thing' for the feisty red-haired prefect that was constantly on his back, he had gone about it in the same cocky, conceited manner with which he went about everything else, which was perhaps his first mistake.  
  
As he had yet to learn, not all girls were as madly in love with him as he thought. Lily was maybe the biggest example of this. There was no way she would become another's possession, or allow a boy to control her. This was the main reason, or so James insisted to his friends, that she had never had a boyfriend. But no matter that she had not yet given any indication whatsoever that she wanted to go out with him - if James desired it, so he would get. No one questioned him, anyhow - and any boys that had showed any interest in Lily Evans whatsoever immediately hid this fact. When James Potter went after a girl, there were few people that would dare to get in the way.  
  
Already having been scolded by numerous teachers for scribbling the initials L.E. on his test papers, he had wisely remembered to etch out his latest design of the two letters on his last written exam. Teachers's warnings didn't stop him from carving it on the fireplace when he was bored, or from scratching it on his bed post while listening to his friends talk, though. He didn't care who knew. That would be a matter to consider if failure was a possibility, but James Potter never failed to get a girl.  
  
Until Lily Evans.  
  
~*~*~AUTHORS NOTE~*~*~  
  
Hey guys. For all my readers from TWTTEOA Muggle Born and such, don't worry. I'm not abandoning you. I just felt the need to create a story that truly followed the MWPP personas now that it's been revealed how they actually were in the fifth book. I found it hard to continue on my other stories now that I've discovered that they're so out of character, but I will continue to write them. This is just a way to get the fact that they were stuck up gits out of my system.  
  
The first bit was taken, but by memory, not word-for-word, from the Order of the Phoenix. JK owns it. I do not. Shame, isn't it?  
  
Well, reviews would make me happy. Hint, hint. Just click that little button...  
  
|  
  
|  
  
|  
  
|  
  
\ /  
  
\/ SezZie 


	2. The Loquacious Dictionary of James Potte...

 SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1

***********************************

_James's POV_

Coy, defiant, and an utter enigma. A tease. Capricious and mysterious. Beautiful, sexy, foxy. Strong willed. Amazing. Perplexing. Elicit. Enticing.

Or, more simply; Lily Evans.

The list could go on and on; I'd have no trouble coming up with a dictionary of words for that girl. Let's just say she has that effect on me. When I'm _not _around her, suddenly a whole world of words is at my fingertips. 

You see, because when I _am around her, my voice catches in my throat._

Infatuation. Crush. Obsession. Attraction. Desire. Want, need, frustration. Passion.

All words to describe the kind of feelings I have when I'm around her. Got the point yet? I haven't told you my favourite, yet. It's a nice big one.

Lecherousness.

I admit it. I'm a horny bastard. But I can't help it.

I have been incredibly smitten with Lily Evans since I was fourteen years old, except back then it was in an innocent, admiring way. That was three years ago. Over time, not much has changed. Except maybe for the fact that I now like her in a not so innocent, admiring way and Lily is more than ever determined _not_ to go out with me. 

Looking back, I can understand why. I used to be a complete jerk. Egotistic. Self-centered. Conceited. Arrogant. Incorrigible. But what the girl of my dreams failed to see was that I wasn't like that anymore.

Let me tell you a bit about Lily Evans.

For starters, she's a seventh year Gryffindor, like me. She's also the most gorgeous thing you could ever lay eyes on. Her hair is ruby red and her eyes are emerald green. Not two stones you'd normally put together but on her, they're amazing. And I can assure you, she's definitely not my usual type. Nearly all of my girlfriends have been blonde and blue eyed. But ever since Lily, she's the _only_ type.  

Her body is incredibly long, thin and deliciously curvy. Willowy. Rangy. Personally I prefer willowy; it's a graceful word. Her skin is pale, especially when framed by her hair, and is no doubt incredibly soft to touch. Her lips are the perfect shade of pink, and I love the way she always obliviously pulls them into a pout that is as sexy as hell.

The school uniform just doesn't do her justice. Not that there's anything wrong about her in it; she looks stunning no matter what she wears. But just for once I'd like to see her out of it, wearing in something more low cut... something a little more close fitting... something a little more sheer... something that shows of more of her creamy legs...

I make an attempt to pull myself together before I reach the Head's compartment. 

Yes, amazingly, I am Head Boy. Believe me, it was as much of a surprise for me as it is for you.

It's start of the year. Everyone's coming back from their summer holidays. I'm looking everywhere, longing for just one glance of her before I have to retreat. No such luck. Sighing, I slide open the door.

And nearly die of shock.

Shock, or happiness. Because sitting there, legs stretched out on the seat, robes open and skirt slightly hitched, was Lily Evans.

She had grown even more incredibly gorgeous over the summer, if that was possible. I struggled to keep my hormones in check.

'Hello,' I said, leaning against the door frame. She looked up from the book she was reading.

'Potter,' was all she said.

'So... er, you're Head Girl?'

Stupid question. Why else would she be here? Nice one, Potter.

She gave me a look that said just that.

'Nope. I just thought I'd hang here for a little because it looked like fun.'

'And is it?'

'Terribly,' she replied dryly, shifting a little. Her skirt slipped up a little further, and I battled to keep my gaze from wandering.

'Can I sit down?' I asked.

'Sure,' she said, eyes on her book as she swung her legs around. I sat down next to her.

Her initial reaction to my entrance had struck me as odd. Everyone else had laughed when they had found out I was Head Boy. However, I knew by now that Lily Evans was completely unfathomable and any attempt to question her would result in an argument. I sighed.

'What?' she asked, closing her book and putting it in her lap.

'Huh?'

'You sighed,' she said, rolling her stunning green eyes. I almost swooned. Girlish of me, I know. But I had no control of my body when I was around her.

'Oh. Yeah. Don't worry,' I said, crossing my legs in an attempt to hide the new bulge in my trousers.

This was going to be a _long_ year.

_Lily's POV_

Never, in my whole life, have I come across a boy that is as utterly baffling as James Potter. How is it possible for one human being to be so riling, so arrogant, yet so charming and... likable... all at once?

There was once a time when the mere mention of his name irritated me to no end, but though I loathe to admit it, I have noticed that he has rapidly changed into a completely different, almost bearable, person. It's almost impossible to believe that he was the same annoying fifteen year old that used to strut around the school as if he owned it, hexing people for fun. But then again, there are times that make me doubt whether he ever really changed at all.

James is famous. The whole school worships the ground he walks on. Not because he's the hottest guy in Hogwarts or anything - Sirius Black has that title with no competition; he wins the crown hands down. Then again, James isn't bad looking. There's something indefinable about him... he has a boyish, playful, almost wolfish aura about him. Then there's the way his messy black hair always falls just above his eyes. His eyes. His big, warm hazel eyes. I swear, if there's one weakness of mine that I have towards James Potter, its his eyes. He gives the most melting puppy looks you could ever see. It would be almost too easy to give in if it wasn't for that ever-present twinkle, reminding you just how mischievous he really is.

One of the things that is both incredibly amusing and vexing about James is the fact that he flirts blatantly with me and expects me to fall in a heap at his feet. I've never been like that and I never will be. I would have gone out with him long ago if only he'd realise that his damn cockiness is something I just can't stand. I must admit he's deflated quite a bit since fifth year, but there's an intense dislike that's been there for so long, and its hard to break old habits. They die hard.

I wasn't extremely surprised to see James Potter walk into the Head's compartment. He was top of our year, and although he had never been a Prefect (most likely because he had been an insufferable jerk the year they had picked them) he was someone that most people in the school would listen to.

I'm not a slag. But I'm not the token good little Christian prude. I'm a virgin, but I've had my fair share of boyfriends and kisses and make out sessions on the Common Room couches. All with James Potter glaring at me the whole time, mind you. The look on his face everytime a guy asks me out... whoa.

Anyway, back to the point - don't think that I'm a slut or anything. But it was an opportunity I couldn't miss. I was lying spread out on a seat with my skirt far higher up than it usually was and the boy that had been lusting after me for nearly two years had just walked in. It was intensely cruel and licentious, I know, but James brought out a completely different side of me and I couldn't help but tease him. So I stayed in that position.

'Hello,' he said casually.

'Potter,' I replied, biting my lip. This was our usual greeting routine; he'd try and be nice and I'd pretty much throw it back in his face by being completely toneless.

'So... er, you're Head Girl?'

I almost laughed. James was always so sure of himself, and totally intelligent, but I always seemed to have some weird effect on his brain.

'Nope. I just thought I'd hang here for a little because it looked like fun.'

'And is it?'

'Terribly,' I answered. I moved a bit, deliberately letting my skirt rise another inch or so. James was struggling to keep his eyes on my face, I knew.

He sat down, we had a short exchange, and then he said nothing, which I must say was a first. After awhile it began to bug me incredibly, and I threw my book down for the second time.

'Since we're both Heads and all, I think... I think we need to get on more... and you know, get to know each other,' I said slowly.

James wasn't looking at me.

'I have no problem with getting on with you,' he sighed.

'You know perfectly well why I never liked you, Potter, and if you don't, then you're not as smart as I thought you were.'

'You think I'm smart?' James asked me wonderingly, still staring ahead rather than at me.

'I can see this is not going to work,' I said shortly, standing. Suddenly, James's hand wrapped around my wrist.

'I'm sorry,' he said quietly, pulling me back. I let him, even when he tugged me down to his level. 'Let me start. I'm James Potter, and I'm seventeen years old. I go to Hogwarts. I'm very much in love with Lily Evans, but she hates my guts.'

I just looked back into his eyes for a moment, which were blazing so strongly with emotion that I had to swallow.

'My name's Lily Evans. I'm sixteen years old, I go to Hogwarts, and I don't hate you,' I said calmly.

I hadn't noticed that James was slowly leaning in. But seconds later his lips were on mine. I pushed him away angrily.

'You see James, I don't hate you, but it's things like that which stop me from liking you! I am not your play thing. You can't just kiss me when you feel like it, OK? Just back off.'

Cheeks burning, I picked up my book and stormed out of the compartment. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~


	3. An Excessive Use of Periods

 SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1**Reading**** Between The Lines: Chapter 3**

**An Excessive Use of Periods**

_James's POV_

I had made a complete and utter fool of myself. The whole time, she was practically _laughing at me! Then, she slapped me! I kissed her, and she slapped me. Didn't she know how many girls would __pay to get kissed by me?_

Ugh. I tell you, she's a tease.

What was she thinking, sticking that irresistible face of hers in mine? Flashing those beautiful limpid emeralds at me, and parting her perfect little pink lips in front of me? So close? What fool wouldn't want to kiss her?

This made no sense to me as I pondered it on my way to our Head's Tower. This was a wonderful thing. 

Me. And. Lily. Evans. Sharing. A. Tower. Together. Alone. Sharing. A. Bathroom. All. The. Way. Up. The. Other. End. Of. The. School.

Heaven. On. Earth.

I had already begun to think up lots of wonderful things we could be doing in that Tower, if only she would consent.

When I got into said Tower ("Candidus", to the portrait of a witch at the entrance) I almost forgot these wonderful things that had been flashing through my mind involving myself and the ever enigmatic Lily Evans. Almost.

So those... _stimulating_... thoughts were sitting in the back of my head while I investigated the Tower. 

It was pretty amazing. The walls were white, the carpet red. The furniture had red coverings. The were hints of gold everywhere. But the red. I loved the red. It reminded me of Lilt Evans's hair, the hair that I'd so love to run my hands through...

_Stop thinking about her, Potter._

After examining my bedroom - which was not, sadly, in any way joined to Lily's - I decided to move into the bathroom.

Oh. My. God. I. Was. So. Lying. Before. That. Was. Not. Heaven.

_This_. Was. Heaven.

Lily. Evans. In. The. Bath. Naked.

I felt a painful pinch in my trousers and bit my lip.

I couldn't see her, of course. The tub was filled with bubbles, hiding everything from view. Damn bubbles. I suddenly felt a complete and utter jealousy towards those bubbles and how they just got to sit there, laying on her wondrously bare body...

_Ok, James_, I thought. _It's not doing your trousers any good thinking like that._

Right. How about I take them off, then?

_Lily would flip_, I decided.

Lily was going to flip anyway, I realised. She was going to flip because I had not alerted her to the fact that I was in the bathroom. Actually, screw that, she was going to flip for the mere fact that I was _in the bathroom._

Maybe, she'd be so surprised that she'd stand up, in shock! Yes, I liked that idea. Surely all the yelling would be worth a look at that. But then again, there was always the possibility that it wouldn't happen and then it would all have been for nothing.

'So how do you like the bathroom, then?' Lily asked, turning her head and looking straight at me.

Uh. Oh. I. Am. So. Dead.

'Bathroom?' I asked, swallowing.

'Mm-hmm. How do you like it?'

'Oh... it's, uh... it's very, uh, nice...' I managed.

'Potter?'

'Yeah?'

'Could you come down here a minute?' she asked sweetly.

'Uh-huh,' I said, watching her as she put her arms on the edge of the tub and leaned her head on them. I lowered myself down to her level.

'Yeah?'

'What the hell are you doing in here?'

I gulped.

'Ah, well, you see... I came in here, to have a look, and then you were in here, and I... I er, I didn't know, but...'

Dammit!

I was blushing! I could feel the heat creeping up in my cheeks!

But then... she was blushing too! She looked so yummy while she was blushing. I wanted to snog her senseless. Hell, I wanted to do a lot more than snog her, but I doubted that if anything, the most I would get would be a snog.

'Could you get out then, please?' she asked coolly, the coldness in her voice countered by the fact that she was still blushing quite prettily. 

'Maybe,' I said, my eyes on her lips.

'James, please don't,' she whispered as I moved closer.

The was word foreign to my ears when formed by those pale pink lips. Lips I had many times mused of kissing... And now... not Potter, _James..._

'But...' I said, my eyes pleading with hers. But then, something told me not to. I drew back, my breathing strangely accelerated. What was this, my breathing heavy? That was meant to come _after_ a kiss, and while my lips had been beautifully close, none of that had quite yet happened.

'I'm not going to yell at you for being here,' she said, turning away. I gleefully noticed that her breathing, too, was a little hitched. 'You wouldn't have known I was in here. But don't do it, don't give me something to yell about...'

She moved away from the edge, taking care to stay in the cover of the bubbles. 

My trousers were really being a bother. If only I could take them off...

'Right. Sorry,' I said, demonstrating a lot of self control to get back on my feet and back away. What was this? I wasn't giving in to my hormones for once?

_Good job, Potter. Because we all know if you'd had your way you'd have stripped yourself off and jumped right in there with her about ten minutes ago._

'Potter?' she said, more aloof now.

'Yeah,' I sighed. 'Going.'

'Good.'

_Good. Good for you, I suppose. You're not the one with a thing in between your legs that has a bloody mind of its own..._

I edged out of the bathroom and went and sat myself down on the nice, plush, red sofa that was bang smack in the middle of our lounge. Red. Lily's hair. Lily...

_No! No! No! Stop it, Potter! This is NOT good!_

No, it wasn't. Frowning in frustration, I grabbed a cushion and sat it in my lap. 

_Focus on something else, Potter. Something innocent._

Ah. A book. I noticed a bookcase over the other side of the room, near the door to Lily's room. I got up and walked over, the ache in my groin subsiding.

'_Charmingly Charming Charms,' I read aloud, raising an eyebrow. 'Nice name.'_

Charms, I thought. Innocent enough. Come to think of it, Lily liked Charms. She always sat up the front in Charms, which was excellent, since I got to stare at her without her noticing...

I felt the presence of someone behind me. I nearly died on the spot.

_Dear God, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?_

Lily. Evans. Standing. There. In. Just. A. Towel. 

She was blushing again! Man, she looked beautiful when she blushed. She looked beautiful all the time. But _hell_, her in a towel was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. I swallowed and closing my eyes, telling myself how dirty it was to be mentally undressing her. 

I did it anyway.

When I opened my eyes again, she had stepped a little closer, turned a little redder, and looked down at the floor.

'I forgot my clothes,' she mumbled.

'Right,' I said, my throat constricting.

'I um, need to get to my room.'

'Right!' I said, feeling stupid. 

I moved away from her door. Well away. Back to the couch. Where I had a great view of her bare shoulders from the back. She stepped inside and shut the door.

I flopped back on the couch and stared at the ceiling, eyes wide.

'Sweet Merlin,' I murmured. 'Now. _That_. Was. Heaven.'

****************************************************

_Lily's POV_

Eek! Boy, was my face red! I don't think I'd ever been more embarrassed in my life! 

Though I do suppose Potter was rather good about it. He could have said worse... he could have _done_ worse... hell, he'd almost kissed me in there. But he didn't. That's what mattered.

How could I have been so stupid as to forget my clothes? I shouldn't even have taken a bath, really. I should have known James would be coming soon, and that he would be bound to walk in. 

What. An. Idiot.

I could have died on the spot, honestly, this is not something I'll forget in a hurry. Not something _he'll_ forget in a hurry, no doubt, either.

'No talk of James Potter, period!' I declared, after endless giggling from my year mates. I was up in my old dorm, and had just told them my tale.

'James has his period?' Carmen asked cluelessly, as she walked in. Sheridan erupted into fits of giggles. Chrissy soon joined in.

'So that's what someone was doing going through your bedside table yesterday, Lily. But he was looking in the wrong place!'

Sheridan and Chrissy snorted, but I stopped dead, turning very pale. 

My. Bedside. Table. My. Diary. My. Secrets.

I stared at Sheridan.

'Someone was going through my dresser?'

Sheridan nodded slowly, confused. 

'I don't know if it was James. But someone came in here last night. I couldn't see them very clearly. I thought it was you, so I never said anything. But you said you never came in last night.' 

'No, I didn't,' I frowned.

I dashed over to the drawers and quickly opened the cabinet, searching through the trays.

I was considerably relieved when everything appeared to be in order. My diary, which I kept in my old dorm to be away from Potter, hadn't been touched. But there was something new in there, something that I didn't remember seeing before. 

A small, silver, gift-wrapped box. She read the note.

Happy Belated Birthday. TC \l2 "

My birthday had been on the holidays. All my friends had already given me presents, and they were the only ones who knew.

'Did one of you guys put this here?' I asked softly, picking up the silver box.

'Uh-uh,' Carmen said.

'Not me, either,' Sheridan added.

'Or me,' said Chrissy.

'Just open it,' Carmen insisted, throwing her long raven hair over her shoulder with a giggle.

I envied Carmen. A lot. She was the prettiest person I knew. Absolutely stunning. She looked like a gypsy. Her hair was so dark and long and silky, and she had the most gorgeous blue-green eyes. Half the male population of Hogwarts was in love with her.

'Hello! Lily! Open it, hun,' she said, waving her hand in front of my face.

I took the lid off the box. Inside was a pretty silver bracelet, with my name carved on it with cursive script.

'Wow,' I murmured, slipping it on. 'It's beautiful.'

'Yeah, it is,' Carmen said, leaning closer.

'No note?' Sheridan frowned. 'Nothing?'

'Nope,' Chrissy confirmed, tipping the box upside down. 'Not a thing.'

'Oooh, Lily... you have a mysterious benefactor!' Carmen giggled.

'Yeah,' I said with a sigh. 'And I think I know who it is.

*

'Potter,' I said shortly, standing in the doorway to his room. My heart suddenly sped up.

James. Potter. Laying. On. His. Bed. Shirtless. Reading. A. Book. Shirtless. 

Shirtless.

_Get over it, Lily, it's only Potter. Wow. You were around him in just a towel the other day._

I blushed at the memory.

'What naughty things are you thinking about to blush so prettily?' he smirked, lowering the book.

'Shut it,' I said, crossing the threshold and standing at the foot of his bed.

'I see,' he murmured, getting up to stand behind me. I turned to face him.

'You've finally decided to admit how much you really want me,' he said with a wink.

'In your dreams, Potter,' I snapped.

'How did you find out about those?' he breathed on my neck.

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, then opened them.

'Did you go through my drawer the other night?'

He shot me an odd look.

'No. I think you've finally cracked it, Lily. Though insanity is quite becoming on you.'

'Will you stop hitting on me?' I demanded, annoyed.

'You're the one that came into my room in the middle of the night,' he pointed out, though his face turned a little more serious.

I must have blushed crimson.

Oh. My. God. What. The. Hell. Was. I. Thinking?

'You just can't get your mind out of the gutter, can you, Potter? Maybe if you stopped being such a pig, someone would go out with you!'

He looked taken aback, perhaps hurt. No. What was I thinking? James Potter was above being hurt by the comments of lesser mortals.

'I already have plenty of someones that would go out with me, Lily. But the one I want is you,' he said, turning away. 'I think you should leave.'

I left obediently, quietly, feeling somewhat guilty. He _said that he liked me a lot. Surely if he was lying he would have given up years ago. But he was so __annoying. And he was also a player. I didn't want to be his conquest. Another notch on the bedpost. I was saving myself for someone special._

I went and sat on the sofa, turning the bracelet absently on my wrist. James said he hadn't gone through my drawer, and, strangely enough, I believed him. But _somebody_ had, and I wanted to know who.

'Prat,' I shot at James's door before standing and heading to my own bedroom. 

Being mad at him was so much easier.

*****************************

How was that for length-ness and soon-ness? :)

Well, gotta fly, sorry.

Thanks for the reviews, my friends... I'll be back soon.

SezZie


End file.
